Nymphalis antiopa, known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar. It is the state insect of the U.S. state of Montana, adopted in 2001.

Etymology

The specific epithet antiopa is thought to be derived from Antiope, a common name in Greek mythology.

North American name "mourning cloak"

In several European countries with Germanic languages, other than Britain, the name for this butterfly literally translates to "mourning cloak", such as German "Trauermantel", Dutch "rouwmantel", Swedish "sorgmantel" and Norwegian "sørgekåpe". Finnish "suruvaippa" is also a calque of the Germanic names. This suggests it is a name which came with Scandinavian or German rather than with British settlers, for whom this species would be considerably less familiar. Other common names include: Czech "Černopláštník" . "Babočka osiková". Polish "Rusałka żałobnik". Russian "Траурница" . Japanese "キベリタテハ" . Chinese "黄縁立羽". L. Hugh Newman likened the butterfly's pattern to a girl who, disliking having to be in mourning, defiantly let a few inches of a bright dress show below her mourning dress.

British name "Camberwell beauty"

The name originated from the discovery of two individuals at Coldharbour Lane in Camberwell in August 1748.

Subspecies

Subspecies include: and the spots bordering the wing edges may be more of a violet color.

  • N. a. lintnerii <small>(Fitch, 1857)</small> (slightly larger than preceding; se Canada, eastern US)
  • N. a. asopos <small>(Fruhstorfer, 1909)</small> (Japan)

Distribution

The mourning cloak butterflies are distributed broadly around the northern hemisphere. Three subspecies of mourning cloak butterflies are found throughout North America: northern Nymphalis antiopa hyperborea Seitz, 1913; eastern N. a. lintnerii Fitch, 1857; southwestern N. a. thomsoni Butler, 1887. They can usually be found in hardwood forests, though they have been found in virtually all habitats. They may also be found as far as the northern part of South America, though they are typically not seen as frequently in southern states such as Florida, Louisiana, or Texas. They are occasionally seen in the more temperate places in Asia, and a few have even been seen in Japan. Upon further development, the coloration of the eggs will change, becoming lilac-pink, and darkening to almost black, as they mature prior to hatching. The fully grown mourning cloak caterpillars attain two inches in length.

Adult

The mourning cloak butterfly is a large, unique butterfly, with special markings that do not match those of any other butterfly, making it easily distinguishable. It can have a wingspan up to four inches. The dorsal side of its wings are a dark maroon, or occasionally brown, with ragged pale-yellow edges. Bright, iridescent blue spots line the black demarcation between the maroon and the yellow. They are a part of the family Nymphalidae, called the brush-footed butterflies due to their hairy front legs. The species does not display any obvious sexual dimorphism. This means that male mourning cloak butterflies primarily lek, or display territorial behavior, in which they settle and defend desirable areas, such as those that either offer increased probability of females or those that provide ample amounts of good resources. The more desirable territories will be able to increase the males' chances of reproductive success. Thus, lekking maximizes the males' ability to attract the most female butterflies, either by being in a prime location to view them or to have a location that females would want to visit. Locations of choice typically include sunny perches near ravines, or canyons in which males can perch and defend for multiple days.

Spring marks the beginning of their mating season, when female mourning cloaks will find a host plant and begin to lay their eggs. Adult mourning cloak butterflies can first be seen in late spring through early summer. They then aestivate for the summer, where they will enter into a "dormant" state similar to that of hibernation. In concordance with this is the mourning cloak butterflies' exhibition of diapause, which is a suspension in development in response to certain conditions, such as environmental stimuli. They will break diapause once some, though not all, of the butterflies start to migrate through September and October. They then overwinter, and then restart their mating cycle throughout the spring, from April through June. Following development as the chrysalis is the emergence of an adult mourning cloak butterfly.

Behavior

The adult butterflies hibernate during the winter months. Typical locations of overwintering include tree cavities and on the ground underneath loose tree bark (covered by snow).

Ecology

thumb|Mourning cloak nectaring on [[Prunus cerasus|cherry blossoms]]

Larval food-plants

Upon hatching, the caterpillars will begin to eat the leaves of the larval food-plant. A large number of food-plant plants was recorded, such as willow (Salix nigra, Salix pentandra, Salix caprea, Salix aurita, Salix cinerea, Salix phylicifolia), American elm, hackberry, hawthorn, wild rose, Betula species (Betula verrucosa, Betula chinensis), Alnus incana and poplar. The caterpillars live gregariously in communal silken nest on the host-plant, until they disperse prior to pupation.

Predation

The mourning cloak butterfly faces many predators throughout its development. The mourning cloak's eggs can be eaten by predators such as beetles, true bugs, ants, beetle larvae, wasps, assassin bugs, and mites.

To protect themselves from the cold weather of their habitats, mourning cloaks will find areas under direct sunlight. This behavior, in conjunction with their darkly-colored wings, allows for maximum heat absorption.

Relationship to people

Pests

On occasions, the gregarious mourning cloak larvae will completely defoliate ornamental trees, in nurseries, plantations, and parks. Some areas that this damage has been documented have been Oregon and Canada. The young willows and poplars could be completely defoliated due to the caterpillars, though mature trees tend not to be affected.

Conservation

Mourning cloak butterflies are protected by law in Switzerland and Austria, though they generally have an increasing trend regarding population density in Finland. They also assume "safe" status in the Czech Republic. In general, the mourning cloak butterflies find areas that have experienced fire breaks to be more inviting, presumably because the fire breaks increase the amount of open space and clearings available to the butterflies, which is a more ideal habitat for these butterflies to live in. A photograph of the mosaic was used on the cover of Camberwell indie band The House of Love on their self-titled 1990 album.

  • Camberwell Beauty is a novel by Louis Golding, published in 1935.
  • "The Adventure of the Camberwell Beauty" is a short story by August Derleth, published in 1952 in Three Problems for Solar Pons. The Solar Pons stories are pastiche stories of the Sherlock Holmes tales.
  • The Camberwell Beauty () is a collection of short stories by VS Pritchett, published in 1974.
  • Camberwell Beauty () is the first novel by the comedian Jenny Eclair, published in 2000.
  • Camberwell Beauty is a 2015 short film directed and written by Chris Ward and featuring Lindsay Armaou. The film is about the lead singer in a punk band, 'Camberwell Beauty', who undergoes plastic surgery to reconstruct her face after a motorbike accident, but is horrified to discover that she is now beautiful. It was originally a 1982 play, of the same name, by Ward.
  • "Camberwell Beauty" is a track on the 2017 album Ealing Feeder by composer Sarah Angliss.
  • Mourning Cloak Episode 10 Season 7 Fear The Walking Dead references the butterfly throughout the storyline.

References

Further reading

  • Glassberg, Jeffrey Butterflies through Binoculars: The West (2001)
  • Guppy, Crispin S. and Shepard, Jon H. Butterflies of British Columbia (2001)
  • James, David G. and Nunnallee, David Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies (2011)
  • Pelham, Jonathan Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada (2008)
  • Pyle, Robert Michael The Butterflies of Cascadia (2002)
  • Nymphalis antiopa: Reference quality large format photographs and information Cirrus Digital Imaging
  • Butterflies of North America - Nymphalis antiopa
  • Nymphalis antiopa at Butterfliesandmoths.org
  • Mourning cloak, Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility
  • Mourning cloak on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
  • hosted by Ingo Daniels (in German)